New evidence for Early Pleistocene use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)

M. Dolores Marin-Monfort; Candice L. Shaw; Filipe Natalio; Liron Grossman; Peter Andrews; Joaquín Campos; Sara García-Morato; José M. Pereira; Alicia Pons; Michael Chazan; Liora Kolska Horwitz; Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0347480

New evidence for Early Pleistocene use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)

M. Dolores Marin-Monfort
, Candice L. Shaw
, Filipe Natalio
, Liron Grossman
, Peter Andrews
, Joaquín Campos
, Sara García-Morato
, José M. Pereira
, Alicia Pons
, Michael Chazan
, Liora Kolska Horwitz
, Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo

Universidad Nacional del Sur
University of Toronto
University of Lisbon
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Natural History Museum, London
CSIC - Institute of Optics Daza de Valdés
CSIC - Center for Human and Social Sciences
CSIC - National Museum of Natural Sciences
Digital Heritage
University of the Witwatersrand
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tracing the earliest evidence of burning in archaeological contexts is essential for understanding the emergence of fire use—an innovation that underpinned critical behavioral and biological developments in the genus Homo. However, identifying unambiguous traces of early fire use remains challenging. To enhance detection of incipient burning in early occupation layers, we introduce a rapid, non-invasive protocol based on bone luminescence properties, validated through comparison with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Using these methods, we provide evidence for fire use in two Early Pleistocene (Acheulean) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), extending the chronology of one of the world’s earliest paleo-fire records. This combined approach improves the resolution with which early fire use can be identified and opens new avenues for investigating the emergence of pyrotechnology in deep time.

Original language	English
Article number	e0347480
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	21
Issue number	6 June
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0347480
State	Published - Jun 2026
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Marin-Monfort et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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10.1371/journal.pone.0347480

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title = "New evidence for Early Pleistocene use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)",

abstract = "Tracing the earliest evidence of burning in archaeological contexts is essential for understanding the emergence of fire use{\textemdash}an innovation that underpinned critical behavioral and biological developments in the genus Homo. However, identifying unambiguous traces of early fire use remains challenging. To enhance detection of incipient burning in early occupation layers, we introduce a rapid, non-invasive protocol based on bone luminescence properties, validated through comparison with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Using these methods, we provide evidence for fire use in two Early Pleistocene (Acheulean) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), extending the chronology of one of the world{\textquoteright}s earliest paleo-fire records. This combined approach improves the resolution with which early fire use can be identified and opens new avenues for investigating the emergence of pyrotechnology in deep time.",

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AU - Marin-Monfort, M. Dolores

AU - Shaw, Candice L.

AU - Natalio, Filipe

AU - Grossman, Liron

AU - Andrews, Peter

AU - Campos, Joaquín

AU - García-Morato, Sara

AU - Pereira, José M.

AU - Pons, Alicia

AU - Chazan, Michael

AU - Horwitz, Liora Kolska

AU - Fernández-Jalvo, Yolanda

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Marin-Monfort et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Y1 - 2026/6

N2 - Tracing the earliest evidence of burning in archaeological contexts is essential for understanding the emergence of fire use—an innovation that underpinned critical behavioral and biological developments in the genus Homo. However, identifying unambiguous traces of early fire use remains challenging. To enhance detection of incipient burning in early occupation layers, we introduce a rapid, non-invasive protocol based on bone luminescence properties, validated through comparison with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Using these methods, we provide evidence for fire use in two Early Pleistocene (Acheulean) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), extending the chronology of one of the world’s earliest paleo-fire records. This combined approach improves the resolution with which early fire use can be identified and opens new avenues for investigating the emergence of pyrotechnology in deep time.

AB - Tracing the earliest evidence of burning in archaeological contexts is essential for understanding the emergence of fire use—an innovation that underpinned critical behavioral and biological developments in the genus Homo. However, identifying unambiguous traces of early fire use remains challenging. To enhance detection of incipient burning in early occupation layers, we introduce a rapid, non-invasive protocol based on bone luminescence properties, validated through comparison with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Using these methods, we provide evidence for fire use in two Early Pleistocene (Acheulean) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), extending the chronology of one of the world’s earliest paleo-fire records. This combined approach improves the resolution with which early fire use can be identified and opens new avenues for investigating the emergence of pyrotechnology in deep time.

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ER -

New evidence for Early Pleistocene use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)

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